Some of the runs were even earned
If you’re going to charge people to see a game most Little League teams would be ashamed of, you might as well as least win it. Which the White Sox did, thanks to a Rangers level of incompetence they couldn’t hope to match. At least the Sox took advantage of the handouts they were given, which Texas mostly did not.
In the end, the box score shows the Sox with 14 hits, which is certainly nice, and 10 runs, which is even nicer. How they got there? Well, never mind.
The Rangers scored first, with three first-inning hits off Bryse Wilson. Wilson was an emergency substitute starter for Jonathan Cannon, who had come down with back tightness. That was a legit run, but the Rangers got two more in the fourth, aided by the fact Lenyn Sosa didn’t bother to touch second for a force out and Joshua Palacios just flat dropped a routine fly ball hit right to him.
Palacios made up for his error in the bottom of the inning, following a Luis Robert Jr. double that the wind kept in the park in left (hey, GMs of good teams, did we mention Luis had three hits today and is immediately available for a trade?) with a very much wind-blown homer to right.
In the top of the fifth, the Rangers made it 4-2 mostly thanks to Josh Rojas, playing third, deciding to bounce a throw to second that Sosa couldn’t handle.
But shortly thereafter came the bottom of the sixth, and a chance for the visitors to show that the White Sox are mere amateurs when it comes to playing lousy D. First, Austin Slater hit a fly ball to left-center that should have been out No. 1.
That got called a triple, which suggests Slater must be a close relative of the official scorer. Then Chase Meidroth got on when Josh Jung booted his routine grounder, which should have been out No. 2. That brought up Mike Tauchman, who hit his own routine grounder, right to second baseman Marcus Semien.
You have thought that double misplay by Semien should have been outs three and four, but he missed the tag and then threw late to first.
After that, the Rangers seemed deflated and Sox elated, as Andrew Benintendi hit a two-run double and, after a Robert single and Matt Thaiss walk (Thaiss walking three times would have been more impressive if Rangers pitchers hadn’t insisted on walking eight) Sosa made up for his boo-boos with a three-run double.
Wham-o, six runs, none of which should have been called earned though some were. That made for the biggest inning of the year for the Sox, and an 8-4 lead. They’d tack on solo digits when Robert doubled in Miguel Vargas in the seventh and Tauchman homered in the eighth, making the final 10-5.
Of the 14 Sox hits Vargas, Benintendi, Palacios and Sosa each claimed two, and — attention GMs — did you hear that Robert had three?
This apparently guaranteed the first Sox series victory over the Rangers since Sam Houston was in their lineup, with a chance for a sweep tomorrow afternoon with Davis Martin and Patrick Corbin on the mound.
Futility Watch
White Sox 2025 Record 17-35, tied for the third-worst start in White Sox history and tied for the 85th-worst start in baseball history. A 17-35 record projects to 53-109 over a full season. A year ago, the record-breaking White Sox were 15-37. A win tomorrow improves the White Sox out of the 100 worst starts in major league history.
All-Time White Sox Record (1901-2025, 19,258 games) 9,611-9,647 (.4990). It’s been 96 games since the White Sox had an all-time winning record.
Record Since the New Pope Was Revealed as a White Sox Fan 7-7
- Race to the Worst “Modern” 162-Game Record (2024 White Sox, 41-121)
- Race to the Worst “Modern” Record in a 162-Game Season (1962 Mets, 40-120-1, finished three percentage points worse than the 2024 White Sox)
- Race to the Most White Sox Losses (2024, 121)
- Race to the Worst White Sox Record (2024, 41-121)
12 games better, in all cases
Race to the Worst Post-1899 Record (1916 A’s, 38-124 adjusted to 162 games) 15 games better